Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea)

Yellow-crested cockatoo with raised crest
Yellow-crested cockatoo with raised crest

Yellow-crested cockatoo fact file

Yellow-crested cockatoo description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderPsittaciformes
FamilyPsittacidae
GenusCacatua (1)

The yellow-crested cockatoo is generally white in colour with, as the English name suggests, a crest of yellow feathers on the head that curves forwards. The undersides of the wings and tail are also yellow, the bill is black, and the feet are grey. The sexes differ in eye colour; in females they are reddish-brown but males have black eyes. In both sexes the skin around the eye is bluish. Juveniles are similar in appearance to adults but have a grey iris, and chicks have patchy yellow down. Four subspecies exist; C. s. sulphurea, C. s. abbotti, C. s. parvula, and C. s. citrinocristata (2).

Also known as
Lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Size
Length: 33 cm (2)
Weight
350 g (2)
Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo biology

This species has a broad diet including seeds, berries, fruit, nuts and flowers. It has been observed raiding crops of maize and rice, and may also take green plant material (4). This bird tends to roost and feed in groups (2). All cockatoos develop very strong pair bonds, and the yellow-crested cockatoo is no exception. Precise details of breeding are not known for this species, the nest is usually built in a tree-hollow, and up to three eggs can be laid. Nests have also been made in burrows in cliff faces (4). In captivity both parents feed the chick, which hatches after about 27 days of incubation (2).

Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo range

The yellow-crested cockatoo is found in the central archipelagos of Indonesia and on East Timor. This species was widespread and common in the 19th Century but by the 1980s had undergone a rapid decline and was vanishing from most areas of its former range (4).

Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo habitat

Inhabits woodland and cultivated areas from sea-level up to about 1200 metres (2).

Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo status

The yellow-crested cockatoo is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3)

IUCN Red List species status – Critically Endangered

Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo threats

The main factor responsible for the precipitous decline of all of the races of the yellow-crested cockatoo has been unsustainable over-exploitation for the pet trade. Habitat loss has also played a part in the decline (4).

Top

Yellow-crested cockatoo conservation

The yellow-crested cockatoo is now fully protected by Indonesian law, and international trade is restricted by CITES. It occurs within a number of protected areas and a species Recovery Plan was initiated in 1998. This programme continues today and is making progress in five key areas, namely: controlling trade, conserving key habitats, removing the market demand for wild birds by establishing captive breeding facilities, research into ecology and population dynamics, and awareness campaigns (4).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For more information on the yellow-crested cockatoo see:

Top

Authentication

Thank you to Yves de Soye (11/7/02), Director, Loro Parque Fundacion, for revising the text.
http://www.loroparque-fundacion.org

Top

Glossary

Incubation
The act of incubating eggs, that is, keeping them warm so that development is possible.
Subspecies
A different race of a species, which is geographically separated from other populations of that species.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (March, 2008)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. Hoyo, J.D., Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. (1997) Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 4, Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  3. CITES (October, 2002)
    http://www.cites.org/
  4. Birdlife International. (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. Cambridge, UK.

More »Related species

Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia)Umbrella cockatoo (Cacatua alba)Salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis)Goffin’s cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana)Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)Blue-eyed cockatoo (Cacatua ophthalmica)Little corella (Cacatua sanguinea)Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Yellow-crested cockatoo with raised crest  
Yellow-crested cockatoo with raised crest

© Martin Harvey / www.photoshot.com

NHPA/Photoshot Holdings Ltd
29-31 Saffron Hill
London
EC1N 8SW
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7421 6003
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7421 6006
sales@photoshot.com
http://www.photoshot.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.